MM Builder Videos Guide v2.0

Written by Lifeson - lifeson@mindspring.com

NOTE:   this document works perfectly with MMbuild v4.8 û there may be differences with the newer versions but hopefully the method remains basically the same

Introduction

Are you tired of reading endless posts and hunting through countless websites for bits and pieces of information on how to write complex MCI scripts?  Do you simply want to use Multimedia Builder the way it was intended, and use the tools that are right there in front of you to build an exciting Video CD?  Then this paper is for you !!

Here I list several steps to create a Video CD (not a VCD û thatÆs an entirely different animal !!) using MM Builder û that will display shortcuts to any number of video clips, start the videos, stop them û and show/hide the controls perfectly. 

My own Story

I have been playing with video for years now.  I own a Sony TRV-900 Digital Camcorder, and a Canopus DV-Raptor capture card (previously I had a Miro DC-30 analog capture card).  I captured 43 clips from my favorite movies . . . Planes Trains and Automobiles (the famous ôthose arenÆt pillows!!ö scene), WayneÆs World,  Chris Farley, and even two full-length half-hour shows of my favorite vintage TV û The Honeymooners.  I have since burned a few of these treasured CDÆs and handed them out to Family and Friends û they have been a big hit !!  People can take these with them while traveling and simply pop it into their laptop on the plane.  Depending on the quality of the videos you make (I use Xing to convert my videos from AVI to space-saving MPEGÆs) you could literally fit a full-length movie onto one 650 MB CD !!!

The tricky part is setting them up so that:

1. the videos and controls are hidden until you activate one of them
2. when the video starts, the controls show up underneath it
3. you only see one set of controls û there will be as many sets of controls as there are videos, so hiding the inactive sets properly is of course important
4. both the video and the controls will disappear when the video has either completed or been stopped manually.

My next project will be a CD resume, which will autostart a brief video Intro of myself on camera, and will contain buttons to click for my resume, projects I have done in Powerpoint, and a provide link to my website ( http://www.infocellar.com/ ) to the prospective employer.

Getting Started

Create a Mmbuilder project, and save it to a sub-folder within your main Mmbuilder application folder.  Copy all videos there (buttons & bitmaps are contained within the autorun.exe file when the project is compiled and saved so no need top copy them in).  I also copy my project file (.mdb) there as well, though it is not needed on the final CD.

Steps û these are included for you to use ôafterö you have gone through the detailed steps.  It is hard to memorize the steps, and it takes a while to read through the detailed steps.  Therefore, after you get the hang of it û print these out and use them as a reference when you make your project.  You will go through all the steps once for each Video. 

Details

Step 1 - Add Video - Using the tools on the left side, click the Filmstrip button and then click on your page where you want the video to run û the place you click will be the upper left-hand corner of the video, so keep in mind that it will extend down and to the right û also try to memorize a spot where you will click for all video so that they all run in the same spot.  Then select the video from your hard drive.  Instantly, a window opens with controls to play the video.  At this point you unfortunately must add a ôstill screenshotö of the video, even though you donÆt need one, since the buttons and/or text will act as the activator (so later we will Hide this ôstill imageö). 

If, on the other hand - you actually DO want to add a still image, play the video and pause it on the image you want. 

Step 2 - Add a Set of Controls for the Video - Add one set of controls for each video.  The video name in Objects Box will now already be highlighted (if not, click it).  Then click the Wizard Button (the Magic Wand on top), and select ôInsert Video Controlsö.  The video controls will show up below the ôstillö and will be automatically linked to the video you have selected.  In this example, it is the 13^th video I have added.

The videos are automatically given the following names in this exact order:  Video, Video1, Video2, etc.  The controls, however, are given weird names û so I rename them to match the video.  In this example my video was automatically named ôVideo12ö (it is the 13^th video because the first video is simply named ôVideoö).  The controls for Video12 were given the weird name ôVideoControls_C_0A518ö.  Since you may need to work with the project in the future you need to have the controls name be related to the video name, so we will rename it next.  Each Video has itÆs own separate set of controls.

Double click the name of the controls in the Object and you will see this box:

• Click ôHideö so that they do not clutter up the main page
• rename the Label to match name of Video (for my example, for Video12, I renamed the controls to ôControls12ö) û click OK to save the new name û MAKE SURE TO CLICK OK HERE EVEN THOUGH IT CLOSES THE BOX !!  NOTE:  make sure that you renamed the set of controls in this exact step û not later.  If you go in later and rename them to VideoControls12 the control buttons will lose their linkage to the video !!  RENAME THEM IMMEDIATELY AFTER CREATING THEM. 

• Now reopen the controls box - double click the name of the controls in the Object box to open it.  We need to make the Stop button stop the video and also hide the controls.  Double-click the ôStopö entry in the list of the various controls to bring up itÆs own dialog box.  Click the Video icon at the bottom (2^nd icon from the left on bottom - it will have a partial blue bar underneath, showing it has an action). 
  1. Leave the first action 1 (Video Stop) as is (if you renamed the Label of your Video, you may need to select that Object again)
  2. edit action 2 by selecting ôHideö and then select the Object as the video controls (make sure to select the correct set of controls û there will be many as you add more and more videos and more and more controls).
     NOTE:  when you click the ôStopö button, it does make the controls vanish even without doing Step 2.  However, when you click Pause and then click Stop, the controls do not vanish, and Step 2 fixes that.

Step 3 - Set up Video parameters and make Controls vanish upon completion of Video -  double-click the video in the Objects box to open up itÆs dialog box, and then rename itÆs Label to whatever you want, and check ôHide Still Screenö.

The video itself automatically vanishes upon completion, but the controls will not.  To make that happen, click run script/define, then click the Wizard button (wand) :

This brings you to the ôScript Wizardö box :

Select the Action ôHideö (use the drop-down arrow), and then also select Object with the correct set of controls (VideoControls12) :

When you click OK you will see the script listed:

Click OK, and then OK again to get back to the main screen.

Step 4 - Add Bitmap or Text Button to activate Video and ôshowö controls - if you have an existing button, copy (CRTL-C) and paste it (CTRL-V) and then move it (the pasted button will be directly on top of the one you copied).  Otherwise, using the tools on the left side, click either the ôText Buttonö or the ôBitmap buttonö and then click where you want the button on your splash screen û this button will serve to activate the video and Show the controls.  I used the simpler ôText Buttonö for this example :

NOTE:  Mmbuilder has some great built-in buttons û click the tiny ôLibraryö open document icon to access them û they all have three buttons to act as Auto-Open, Highlight, and Click Image

Resize the button to make it the same size as the others, and then double-click it :

Rename it to the same name as your Video :

Now û the button you have just selected will serve to Play the Video and also to ôShowö the controls, since unfortunately, when you hide the controls, they are also hidden when the video plays û this button will override that.

1. click the Video icon at the bottom (the second of four ôActionö icons û the one with the Wand) and select Action 1 as ôVideo Playö, and select the Object as the name of your video

2. select Action 2 as ôShowö and the object as the controls for that video:

Click OK and then test the current page (F5) and run your video !!  Test the first couple of videos that you inserts by allowing them to complete, and also make sure th Stop button works properly.

Repeat these Steps once for each Video û when comfortable, just print the page with the steps and use that to refer to.  It is difficult to memorize all the steps, and even I use the ôSteps sheetö each time I make a video CD.